A Year Late, Claude Beats Pokémon
ClaudePlaysPokemon feat. Opus 4.7 has successfully beaten Pokémon Red, achieving a challenge set over a year ago. This victory comes after a series of improvements in the Claude model, although it does not represent a significant leap in intelligence compared to previous versions. The article reflects on the journey of Claude through various obstacles in the game and the enhancements made along the way.
- ▪ClaudePlaysPokemon feat. Opus 4.7 has finally beaten Pokémon Red.
- ▪The victory fulfills a challenge set over a year ago when LLMs playing Pokémon gained attention.
- ▪Improvements in the Claude model have accumulated to the point of achieving this victory.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Credit: ClaudePlaysPokemon Elevator Shanty by KurukkooDisclaimer: like some previous posts in this series, this was not primarily written by me, but by a friend. I did substantial editing, however.ClaudePlaysPokemon feat. Opus 4.7 has finally beaten Pokémon Red, fulfilling the challenge set over a year ago when LLMs playing Pokémon went briefly, slightly viral, until Gemini 2.5 Pro suddenly beat Pokémon Blue in May 2025, beating Anthropic at their own challenge by using a stronger harness.Claude's victory in May 2026. I'm still proud of you, Claude!Let's get the throat-clearing out of the way: this doesn't make 4.7 a clear breakthrough in intelligence over 4.6 or 4.5. It's smarter, yes, as we'll discuss below, but not by something one could honestly call a big leap.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Lesswrong.
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